We wanted to live in a mountain town and raise our family here when we moved to Salida from Denver 28 years ago.  Passing through the alluring Arkansas Valley for other, then popular locals, such as Gunnison and Durango is how Salida got my attention.  I am saying to my husband, “Where are we?”  This is gorgeous country.”  So when we sold our house in Littleton, CO the kids were six and following is our way of life.  My kids have graduated from Salida High School, moved away, then back, and are now budding entrepreneurs in their own right, here in Salida. They ride on their own snowboard team in the Town Challenge every year and race cars at the track over in the San Luis Valley in the summer. They do well, each owning their own businesses in the tourist and construction trades.  

Downtown Salida is a great place for young and old alike which is why we love it.  Salida is not just another ski town, it’s a hometown blessed with fabulous Monarch Mountain Ski Area and beautifully poised afoot “S” Mountain lies Salida in the Heart of the Rockies. 

People like us are drawn to Salida by its year-round outdoor life. There’s fishing and boating on the Arkansas River, cycling, skiing, hunting and the more passive pastime of soaking and swimming in the local Salida Hot Springs pool. There are three federal wilderness areas within 30 minutes of town and all of this without the glitz of other popular and pricey resort towns like Vail, Aspen or Telluride.

People buy homes here because of the mild climate — Salida summer temperatures average in the high 70s, and the annual rainfall averages just 8.65 inches  with the natural beauty and the outdoor recreation. Of Colorado’s 54 mountains that rise more than 14,000 feet, 14 are in this area and you can see most of them from Salida’s vantage point.

About 20 miles west is Monarch Mountain, a locally owned skiing terrain that annually gets 350 inches of snow mostly naturally deep powder for a great skiing experience.

Salida, in south-central Colorado, with an area of about 2.2 square miles and a population of around 5400, was once a booming railroad depot, but when rail service ended in the early 1970s, the town entered three decades of decline.  It was during this time that outdoor adventurers of ever sport were seeking refuge from Colorado’s more crowded resorts in Summit, Pitkin and Gunnison Counties. 

Salida has arrived and been discovered.  

The town attracted national attention in 2006 when two magazines chose Salida as one of the “best places in the country to live.” The spotlight didn’t surprise the retirees and adrenaline seekers, who for several years had been quietly buying up brick Victorians and downtown commercial buildings.  Salida’s summer scene consists of boaters flocking to Salida to run the river’s frigid and frothing waters. Beyond the river rats, swimmers, runners, hikers and cyclists of all ages are drawn to the paved quarter-mile of Downtown River walk. One block away, the downtown seems to have a life of its own with colorful Galleries, interesting gift shops, and many great Chef-owned restaurants. 

By the end of summer the aspens in Chaffee County come into their full colors ranging from yellow to red and every color in between and by late fall, the aspens have shed their leaves, allowing views of the massive high peaks surrounding the Arkansas Valley. To the west, Monarch Mountain begins collecting snow around mid-November.

When the mountain is shrouded in a snow cloud, Salida is likely to be sunny and warm enough to get by with only a sweater. Hiding in the rain shadow of the Rockies, Salida’s banana belt climate is one of its alluring factoids with fours seasons of outdoor sports. Culturally, there are 12 art galleries and the Salida Steam plant Theater and Event Center, which focuses on live music, art-house movies and a community theater.